The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-07
SEVEN SCORE PERISHED
EXETER's DEATH LIST STILL FUR
THEIR INCREASED.

scenes Full OF horror on the STAR
way-An Angle Formed a Death
Trap From Which the Struggling
People Could Not Escape Holding
the inquest.
LONDON, Sept. 6-The victims by the
burning of the Theatre Royal, at Exeter,
last night. were mostly work people. As
soon as the flames were extinguished large
force of men began searching for bodies.
The stairway leading to the gallery was lit
orally packed with bodies, while at the head
of the stairs they were piled one on top of the
other. The unfortunate victims had rushed
to the door when the alarm was given, but
found the stairway blocked and all means
of escape cut off In short time the flames
had reached them and they suffered hor
rible death. There were pitlful scenes in
the vicinity of the burned theatre this
morning as friends and relatives of supposed
victims awaited the recovery of their bod
les. In many cases fathers and mothers
both perished, and numerous children are
thus left without means of support. Sew
eral of the bodies were burned so that only
a small cinder remained The number Of
persons severely injured is sixty. 1t is
200 IN THE GALLERY.
LONDON, Sept 6, q p. MT has been as
certained that there were 200 persons occu-
pying seats in the gallery, and of these over
100 lost their lives. The search for bodies
still goes on. II is very probable that the
total number of deaths will never be ascer-
tanned, owing to the fact that many of the
bodies were completely calcined. Two stalls
of a stable belonging to a hotel al jacent to
the theatre, are filed with remains that it
is impossible to identify. Most of the killed
were adults, and chiefly men.
But few children perished. The munici-
pal authorities held special meeting to-day,
and arranged for the interment of all un-
den titled bodies.
HORRIBLE SIGHTS.
More bodies have been taken from the
ruins. The charred remains of twenty per-
sons were discovered in one heap. A mother,
father and child were found casped in one
embrace All three had been burned to
death In nearly every case the clothing
had been torn off the victims From many
of the bodies limbs were missing and the
remains showed that they had been
wrenched off. Several whole families of
from two to five persons lost their lives.
A DEATH-TRAP STAIRCASE.
The construction of the gallery staircase
accounts for the great loss of life among
the gallery people. Half way down the
flight there was a sharp angle. The first
persons who left the gallery got past this
safely, but several of those who followed
were thrown down and jammed into the
angle. and were unable to extricate them
selves owing to the pressure from behind
The staircase at this point was thus effectu-
ally blocked and there was no other
means of escape. The scene-shifter says the
fire originated among some gauze, which in
some way became ignited. The flames
spread to the scenery, of which the stage
was unusually full, owing to preparations
for the production of a pantomime. The
audience numbered 500 persons.
1t has been ascertained that in the rush
last night the ticket box was upset at the
gallery exit, and that this was the cause of
the blockade at that point. The remains of
nearly fifty persons were found there. Most
of the bodies are completely reduced to
ashes. kilograms of coincidence have been
received from Mr.. Northcote, Member of
Parliament, and Wilson Barrett, the actor.
HOLDING THE INQUEST.
The inquest over the victims was begun
to day. Crowds of mourning relatives were
present. The Coroner intimated that 1t was
desirable, for sanitary reasons, that a gem
eral order for burial be Immediately issued.
1t was impossible to identify many of the
bodies. The jury simply viewed the re-
mains. A public funeral will be held to-
morrow. A relief fund has been opened.
Capt. Shaw, chief of the London fire
department, who is visiting Exeter, says
that the fire spread with such rapidty,
owing to the abundance of inf1ammable ma
terial, that no help from the outside would
have done any good. The fire brigades
spared no effort but it would be better if
they were placed under one control. The
Queen has sent messages of sympathy to
the sufferers